Welcome to old and new friends who are interested in discussing Cajun and other diatonic accordions, along with some occasional lagniappe....



CAJUN ACCORDION DISCUSSION GROUP

 

General Forum
Start a New Topic 
Author
Comment
View Entire Thread
Re: OT; sort of.

Cyprien

Re: OT; sort of.

Belton was kinda on the fence. Could maybe still exist.
Angelus & Cyprian, your right, Peer.
Just not gonna name a kid one of those names today.
JB

Re: OT; sort of.

Belton, Felton, Delton

Re: OT; sort of.

here are some cool names from my family, some of them are still used but most of them have nicknames. funny nicknames came about in S. Lou because of the common french custom of naming your children with a common name and then giving a second, and nicknames (the second name) would then be mostly used, the use of the names you've given didnt become common place til around the civil war. Dont know why either, havent been able to find out. JB your nickname is a perfect example JB was a nickname given for the name Jean (the common name) Baptiste (the second or nickname). anyway here are some of the more interesting names from my family

Louis Angelas (known as Angelas)
Amay (male, still used)
Emile (still used, but my cousin went by "T"
Esmé (still used, my sisters name)
Jean Blaise (still used, but just goes by Blaise)
Gaflin (still used)
Celanise (female)
Zepharin
Onezime (still used known as Ownee -phonetic)
Portalis
Azelie
Elodie
Larice (pronounce La Reece- known as Tootsie)
Armas
Ostay
Mause
Emar
Atile
Climus (female)

then for some reason my kin in Evangeline (town not parish) had a liking for spanish sounding names for women

Jaquita (pronounced ja kwetta)
Juanita (pronounced wakneeter)

very interesting stuff! thanks JB for this thoughful post

Re: OT; sort of.

Those are some great names!
Especially like Celanise.
The oil-field service/chemical company probably named after her, or vice-versa

The Germans, at least the ones in South Texas, did a similar thing.
My wife's Great-Grand-Father was Heinrich Gottlieb Steubing. His younger brother was also Heinrich, but Heinrich Christian Steubing. Their baby brother was Heinrich Adam Steubing. Guess their Mother called them by their middle names, maybe their full names when she was PO'ed at one of them. Their friends give them nicknames like Kleine(little)Henry, for the youngest, or Grosse (big) Henry for the oldest.

Thanks for the compliment, Christian.
Just trying to help keep this forum interesting.
It seems to be trying to go a bit stale.

JB

Re: OT; sort of.

Then there's Cousine Poplette and her endless list of daughters that she's trying to marry off: Celle-là, là, s'appelle Alméda, ign'a Cora... Ign'a Clara... Ign'a Célina... Olita... Bénita... Angela... Paméla... Lydia... Ida... Elma... Nita... Lina... Oh, elle dit pour faire l'affaire plus court, elle dit, elles sont tous là...

Re: OT; sort of.

With 10 daughters, just think how many ex-sons-in-laws you could have!
My wife had a Cousin with 7 daughters and six Ex-sons-in-laws!
He just quit trying to remember who was married to who.
JB

Re: OT; sort of.

Tonnerre mes chiens! Marion Marcotte? Pourrais d'être toi nègre?

Re: OT; sort of.

Tu l'as démasqué ! Il me fait toujours rire.

Re: OT; sort of.

No,
don't even think there was one in the woodpile.
Does kinda sound a little odd, that many divorces.
Stubborn, hard-working girls who wouldn't put up with lazy men.
JB

Re: OT; sort of.

see link #1 !

Re: OT; sort of.

Many old-fashioned French first names.

Marc.

Re: OT; sort of.

A few years back I did some genealogical research for a friend whose ancestors owned a farm north of Lafayette during the nineteenth century. Among them were two brothers named Telesphore and Telesmar--their siblings had more conventional French names. I was intrigued by these names because I thought they were elegant and because I had never heard of anything like them. Has anyone else encountered these names? The only thing I was able to learn about them was that for a time after the French Revolution, many abandoned the standard Catholic names in favor of more ancient, pagan, Greek and Roman names, and that these two names came into use during that period. While that's plausible I'm not convinced because I could not find a second source to confirm this.

Re: OT; sort of.

I have never encountered these names in France. They seem a little more common in Quebec.

I'm not convinced either by this explanation. Télesphore is a saint and was on the Gregorian calendar, which is in contradiction with the Revolutionary explanation. Besides, these Revolutionary first names were in fashion for just a few years. Telesphore has a much longer life and existed before the Revolution (links below).
(Just a few ideas that come to mind, but nothing certain).

http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/5834/Saint-Telesphore.html
http://www.geneanet.org/prenoms/signification/T%E9lesphore
http://www.saints-prenoms.org/calsai01.php

And a few interesting articles :
http://ahrf.revues.org/1783

Re: OT; sort of.

Christian, I really appreciate this helpful information. Thank you for setting me straight.
Those names were buried way back in my mind until this discussion jogged my memory. But now that I've done some more googling it's clear that there were/are others in Louisiana named Telesphore or Telesmar (there is even a Telesmar Ave. in Baton Rouge). Cool.

Re: OT; sort of.

Claude, I find this subject so interesting, I felt like discovering a little more about it. As everywhere, there are fashions and retro fashions for first names. This passage of a book lists some of these fashionable first names in Louisiana according to the generations. (Just a personal note: reading that "around 1898 there was an epidemic of Luna" made me laugh as that's my nine-year old granddaugter's first name and there is currently an epidemic of Luna in France).

ACADIAN GIVEN NAMES AND NICKNAMES. The following is drawn primarily from Reed (1976:30-32)).
Before the coming of the cinema, the prairie Acadians often baptized their children with old classical names which had also been popular in France in the eighteenth century. Examples of such names included: Theodule Euclide Euchariste Duclide Hyppolyte Ulysse Delphie Telesphore. From these, nicknames were derived for everyday use: Titi Toto Lou-Lou Theo Cariste Lilisse. One also commonly heard such names as : Ferdinand Durelde Euzebe Armogene Azeline Armide Arsemise Arcade Kermance Alcedius Elfege Jules Octave Namard. Around 1898 there was an epidemic of: Luna Duma Numa Dena Adena Damard Lamard Jeanmard Namard. Around 1940 a new series of names became popular: Milton Silton Wilton Tilton Gilton Nilton and so forth. After the First World War, and with the arrival of the cinemas and radio (and later T.V.), one finds increasing popularity of modern Cajun names patterned upon English first names and shortened to a single syllable. These "Hollywoodish" names included: Ted Tod Rod Ned Dee Lee Ray Kay Mae Jay Bert Bob Joy Wayne Sue. Parents of this generation selected names which would not cause shame when they were used in the English speaking schools. Even in modern times, however, certain Acadian parents give their unfortunate children unusual and humorous names. One hears occasionally: Shelvadine Jasooline Armadella Virgine Nicknames: The telephone directories of Acadiana provide one with a wealth of nickname of these, presumably from the Mamou area: Luckette Aloy Dassa Kai Hackdeux Nelkon Gudley Exand Ulfoy Oklie Oftay Quilea Voicy Prosse Seig Brace Weekly Easy Gassie Amaze Polite Acey Palestine Soilnor Mercy Zaquet Waddie Berbis Vergin Reversal. "In the good old days of ignorance, poverty and the great depression" It was not uncommon to discover a father who baptized all of his sons with the same first name. The most popular name was "Jean." Thus, one found families with: Jean-Joseph Jean-Marie Jean-Charles Jean-Robert Other fathers named all of their offspring, or all of their daughters with names which began with the same first letter: Odile Obele Ophelia Oliva Orelia Omerice Olena Olive Overine Ovelia Ovenia Ozone.
http://archive.org/stream/cajunstheirhisto02hami/cajunstheirhisto02hami_djvu.txt



Jamey Hall's most excellent Cajun Accordion Music Theory

Brett's all new Cajun Accordion Music Theory for all keys!

LFR1.gif - 1092 Bytes The April 2011 Dewey Balfa Cajun & Creole Heritage Week

augusta.gif - 6841 Bytes

Listen to Some GREAT Music While You Surf the Net!!
The BEST Radio Station on the Planet!